April 6 - No new forms, No new points calculator

[Vega]

For a person applying from outside the UK for the initial tier 1 visa, the Visa services website does not have the new form.

Heck, even the points based calculator is not updated.

This is nuts! How am I to apply?

[GeneNZ]

For a person applying from outside the UK for the initial tier 1 visa, the Visa services website does not have the new form.

Heck, even the points based calculator is not updated.

This is nuts! How am I to apply?

It's not April 6th in UK (going by BST). The statement of policy they released announcing these changes have said that they won't release the new forms and guidance notes until April 6th (presumably BST time).

Yes, its frustrating, since I'm watching the minutes go by until its 12am 6th April BST (in under 2 hours time). In saying that, there isn't saying its even going to change at 12am. I expect a change around business hours BST.

All I know is that it's April 6th here NZST!

[fisher]

For a person applying from outside the UK for the initial tier 1 visa, the Visa services website does not have the new form.

Heck, even the points based calculator is not updated.

This is nuts! How am I to apply?

It's not April 6th in UK (going by BST). The statement of policy they released announcing these changes have said that they won't release the new forms and guidance notes until April 6th (presumably BST time).

Yes, its frustrating, since I'm watching the minutes go by until its 12am 6th April BST (in under 2 hours time). In saying that, there isn't saying its even going to change at 12am. I expect a change around business hours BST.

All I know is that it's April 6th here NZST!

The forms for inside UK are already released. Although the guidance notes hyperlink points to the forms.

[GeneNZ]

PBS Calculator has been updated right on time: 12.01am BST.

Forms yet to be released on the UKVisas website (for outside of country applications).

[Visa2Uk]

Hi Guru's,

I am also awaiting eagerly to see the updated forms on the Outside UK site.

In the meantime I have a question and would be happy to get some suggestions from you.

I am not intended to travel to UK immediately and I read in the below link that "You can ask for it to be post-dated for up to 3 months if you do not plan to travel immediately but this must be clearly specified at time of application".

https://www.visainfoservices.com/Pages ... Apply_PAGE

Do we need mention this request in the cover letter? There is a question in the online application which asks us "When you intended to travel to UK". Is it enough if I entered a date 3 months from the date of application?

Thanks a lot for your help.

[arsenal49]

rather than giving them a date out of blue, explain why you have chosen that particular date. thats what i would do anyway

regards

[GeneNZ]

Hi Guru's,

I am also awaiting eagerly to see the updated forms on the Outside UK site.

In the meantime I have a question and would be happy to get some suggestions from you.

I am not intended to travel to UK immediately and I read in the below link that "You can ask for it to be post-dated for up to 3 months if you do not plan to travel immediately but this must be clearly specified at time of application".

https://www.visainfoservices.com/Pages ... Apply_PAGE

Do we need mention this request in the cover letter? There is a question in the online application which asks us "When you intended to travel to UK". Is it enough if I entered a date 3 months from the date of application?

Thanks a lot for your help.

When applying online for the Tier 5 YMS Visa, you just had a specify a date you would be there. Provided the date was within 3 months from date of application, there was no need to explain anything.

I believe it is similar for the Tier 1 General visa, as I have a close friend who just applied for it. This is of course using the online application method (which is the only method available to New Zealanders). I guess you can specify a reasoning in the final section of the online application (i.e. any additional information), but I believe it shouldn't be necessary. Of course I could be wrong.

I am applying for Tier 1 General the moment the forms come out, so I don't yet have any experience in this matter other than my experience with the Tier 5 YMS.

[Visa2Uk]

rather than giving them a date out of blue, explain why you have chosen that particular date. thats what i would do anyway

Thanks Arsenel49. I agree that there is no harm in letting them know that I would like to Visa date to be post-dated to a particular date if possible. Thanks again for the quick response.

[Visa2Uk]

Hi GeneNZ,

That's a good piece of information you gave me. I didnt even thought of giving some extra information (in this requesting them to stamp with a post-date) in the additional information section.

I have joined only today and already learning important things from you guys.. Thanks a bunch..

[Visa2Uk]

I got another question here. I wanted to make sure I was right in my calculation.

In the past 15 months, first 8 months I worked in USA and the next 2 months I went back to India during which salary got credited in INR. I came to USA and here for 5 months.

So while calculating the previous earnings, I am doing the PRO-RATA calculation as suggested by the "Previous Earnings - Case Worker Guidance Document" ( I am giving the link below)

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary

The calculation goes like this..

(Total earned income (from the country where the most time was spent) amount x twelve) ) / Number of months worked there.

i.e if my earnings is 5500 USD per month in USA and if I spent 10 out of 12 months in USA, then 10 month income is 55000 USD.

(55000 * 12) / 10 = 66000 USD.

I have clearly mentioned this in my covering letter and provided the exchange rates from www.OANDA.com.

I have furnished all the documents (payslips, Letter from HR, Banks Statements from US and India banks).

My question is are they still considering PRO-RATA Calculation for my previous earnings? I saw that the HSMP worker guidance last got updated on 07 January 2008.

In the generaltier1guidance also there is no mention of PRO-RATA for persons who worked on different countires in the past 15 months. Though they mentioned about persons getting income from 2 different sources.

Am I good here? Can I still go ahead and submit my application.

P.S: If I consider my INR salary also, I will be eligible for previous earnings points. I dont want to do something that will end up in rejection.

Your help and inputs are greately appreciated.

[GeneNZ]

I got another question here. I wanted to make sure I was right in my calculation.

In the past 15 months, first 8 months I worked in USA and the next 2 months I went back to India during which salary got credited in INR. I came to USA and here for 5 months.

So while calculating the previous earnings, I am doing the PRO-RATA calculation as suggested by the "Previous Earnings - Case Worker Guidance Document" ( I am giving the link below)

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary

The calculation goes like this..

(Total earned income (from the country where the most time was spent) amount x twelve) ) / Number of months worked there.

i.e if my earnings is 5500 USD per month in USA and if I spent 10 out of 12 months in USA, then 10 month income is 55000 USD.

(55000 * 12) / 10 = 66000 USD.

I have clearly mentioned this in my covering letter and provided the exchange rates from www.OANDA.com.

I have furnished all the documents (payslips, Letter from HR, Banks Statements from US and India banks).

My question is are they still considering PRO-RATA Calculation for my previous earnings? I saw that the HSMP worker guidance last got updated on 07 January 2008.

In the generaltier1guidance also there is no mention of PRO-RATA for persons who worked on different countires in the past 15 months. Though they mentioned about persons getting income from 2 different sources.

Am I good here? Can I still go ahead and submit my application.

P.S: If I consider my INR salary also, I will be eligible for previous earnings points. I dont want to do something that will end up in rejection.

Your help and inputs are greately appreciated.

I don't fully understand your situation, but you CANNOT use Pro-rata calculations unless they change it in the new Tier 1 rules released today. This is unlikely though. If you read through the guidance notes for Tier 1 (check the UKVisas website FAQ for Tier 1 General), it clearly specifies in the previous earnings attribute, that you may NOT consider pro-rata earnings, such as those earnings that you would have earned via full time employment or earnings you would have earned if you were full-time, but are really part-time. Only actual EARNED amounts will be considered.

There is no issue with you claiming earnings from two different sources in different countries, except you must remember that you apply the multiplier to the earnings based on the country you earned the money in. For example, if you earned in USD while working in the US, you will apply a multiplier of 1. For the source of earnings you earned in India in INR, while physically working in India, you apply a multiplier of 5.3. If on the other hand, you were working in the US but paid INR into a Indian bank account, then you will apply a multiplier of 1, as you were physically working in the US.

Edit 1:
As a courtesy to you I have attached the quote from the now-outdated (as of yesterday) Tier 1 guidance notes:

We will only consider actual earnings. 105.
We will never consider earnings claimed
on a pro rata basis (for example when the
applicant has worked part-time and tries to
claim for what he/she might have earned if
the work had been full-time)

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... idance.pdf

Edit 2:
Okay I think I understand what you're trying to do. Your calculation was incorrect in that you put USD55000 instead of USD5500. My understanding is you have 10 months of actual earnings in total, 8 months of earnings in USD and 2 months in INR. You want to get a prorata earnings so you can make a total of 12 months. You do so by extending the earnings you would have earned in the US for an additional 2 months, had you worked those two months in the US. Again I stand by my statement above, you CANNOT use prorata earnings, so you can only claim the 10 months you actually worked (unless they change it in the new guidance notes).

You calculation should be:
(8 * USD5500 * 1 * [UK exchange rate for USD/UKP]) + (2 * [INR Earnings per month] * 5.3 * [UK exchange rate for INR/UKP]) = previous earnings.

The 8 and the 2 are the months you worked in the US and India respectively. The 1 and the 5.3 are the multipliers for US and India respectively.

[hsmp_apr2010]

PBS Calculator has been updated right on time: 12.01am BST.

Forms yet to be released on the UKVisas website (for outside of country applications).

Any news on the new forms? Are they going to release seperate guidance notes for applicants outside UK?

[GeneNZ]

PBS Calculator has been updated right on time: 12.01am BST.

Forms yet to be released on the UKVisas website (for outside of country applications).

Any news on the new forms? Are they going to release seperate guidance notes for applicants outside UK?

No, no news on any forms yet other than those discovered for in-country applications.

Yes they will release separate guidance notes. Statement of Policy said the new guidance will supersede the current/old guidance on April 6th.

Just wait and see what the HO does. Remember it's not even 9am in UK and most people are just getting into work.

[alimohmand]

Application + Calculator updated:
Good Luck

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/worki ... /applying/

[GeneNZ]

Application + Calculator updated:
Good Luck

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/worki ... /applying/

The inside of country application has been out for several days already. The outside of country application has yet to be released. The guidance notes also haven't been released (yes I know the website says guidance notes, but if you open the link, its the same application form).

So we're still waiting.

[GeneNZ]

The UKVisas website has a newsflash just posted:

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/aboutus/ne ... d=22013315

You'll also note that the guidance FAQ has been updated to the latest rules (disregard the update date of 9th Dec 09). So now we have guidance notes!

Still no forms though!

[cooltt_18]

The UKVisas website has a newsflash just posted:

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/aboutus/ne ... d=22013315

You'll also note that the guidance FAQ has been updated to the latest rules (disregard the update date of 9th Dec 09). So now we have guidance notes!

Still no forms though!

Even the date has been updated

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply ... ralmigrant

dont see any changes to the guidance though. the evidence we need to submit is still the same.

[aruni4470]

The new policy guidance released as well